


All of Him

by fandommatchmaker19



Series: Everything for You [1]
Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22037317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandommatchmaker19/pseuds/fandommatchmaker19
Summary: After Vincent resurrects the Harvest Girls and calls him a monster, Elijah goes home to Hayley.Hayley can see he's keeping something from her, but once she finds out, what will she do? Will she manage to pull Elijah from the edge?
Relationships: Hayley Marshall/Elijah Mikaelson
Series: Everything for You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586230
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	All of Him

She feels his fingers brush over her skin and she stirs slightly before turning to face him, her eyes fluttering open slowly, blinking away the last remaining traces of sleep when she sees the guarded look on his face.

“Elijah?” she whispers, her voice husky from sleep. He brushes hair away from her face as he crouches beside her, and Hayley smiles fondly at him.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says softly in a low whisper. Hayley furrows her eyebrows a little because there seems to be something off about him, but she’s not sure.

“It’s okay,” she murmurs, and slowly gets out of bed, trying not to wake up Hope who had been sleeping next to her. Elijah bends down to press a kiss to his niece’s forehead before stepping towards her. “Are you okay?” she asks quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes, fine,” he says, but Hayley doesn’t believe him for a second. Part of it is instinct, like she instinctively knows something is off, and part of it is the way he seems to be carrying himself, maybe it’s the way his jaw is set, or the way he won’t actually look at her and meet her gaze.

“Elijah…” she says softly and pauses, drawing in a deep breath, “what happened?” She braces herself for his answer, almost not wanting to find out because whatever it is would be decidedly bad what with the Hollow and everything that had happened since they’d come back to New Orleans.

“It’s not important, please don’t worry,” he tells her, his voice devoid of emotion, and he’s still not actually looking at her.

“Elijah,” she mutters, her voice firmer this time. “What happened?” she asks again, not wanting to let this go.

“You don’t intend to let this go, do you?” he asks her, shoulders slumping slightly, though he doesn’t seem like he’s going to just give in.

“Not really,” she retorts. “You know me, I’m nosy,” she adds, her lips curling into a small smile. He seems to hesitate before finally lifting his gaze to meet hers, and Hayley’s heart races when she sees that his walls had clearly been put back up, which can only mean that he’s hurting. “Come on, I don’t scare easy,” she says, her voice just a little teasing to lighten the mood, a little bit of false bravado, because she is scared. Scared that Elijah was trying to keep something from her again, scared that whatever it may be might shatter what they have between them, that whatever he’s hiding is going to be something they can’t come back from. “Elijah, you can tell me, you know,” she adds, a little softer, more sincere.

“I, uh, Vincent informed me that in order to stop the Hollow, the link with the ancestors needed to be restored by performing a sacrificial ritual,” he pauses and swallows thickly, and Hayley’s breath hitches in her throat as it dawns on her what this means.

“The Harvest ritual,” she says in a breathy whisper. Glancing over to the bed, she can see Hope still sound asleep and wonders whether they should take this conversation elsewhere. “Elijah-” she cuts herself off, not sure what to say as she gazes deeply in his eyes, though it’s obvious he’s trying really hard to hide his emotions from her, which worries Hayley because she was usually the one who could read him, the one he shared with parts of himself he never showed anyone else, and in this moment he wasn’t letting her in.

“He refused to do it, afraid the ancestors would not accept the sacrifice. So I did. I-” he cuts himself off, sounding choked, and Hayley’s heart hammers in his chest, her mind spinning. “I slit the throats of those four girls…” he finally says, his voice barely above a whisper, and Hayley can’t help but let out an audible gasp, and she sees his shoulders slump in defeat. Silence descends between them, neither of them really saying anything as Elijah drops his gaze, refusing to meet hers.

“Elijah…” she whispers, biting her lip, and pauses, not sure what to say. “Did it- did it work?” she finally asks, but he doesn’t answer, though he inhales sharply and Hayley takes a deep breath, bracing herself.

There is a pregnant pause before Elijah finally answers, “yes. Yes, it did. Though, the ancestors refused at first, but Vincent managed reach Davina, and she accepted the sacrifice. The girls were resurrected. So, now there link with the ancestors runs through her,” he explains, and there is clear regret in his eyes, and Hayley reaches to touch him in comfort. “Sadly, I don’t think Vincent is our ally anymore,” he adds with a sigh, and Hayley furrows her eyebrow. “I’m sorry I woke you,” he tells her sadly, but Hayley shakes her head.

“No, it’s okay, you know I’m always here for you,” she tells him honestly, gazing deeply in his eyes, and Elijah nods, but Hayley can sense there is something else going on, and she’s worried what it is. Instinctively, she reaches to comfort him, but she doesn’t expect what happens next. Whatever had happened, whatever had Elijah so upset, had caused him not to have his usual control over his thoughts, and the moment she touched him she saw the memory that had been at the forefront of his mind, probably playing on repeat. Hayley’s breath hitched in her throat as she realized what she was seeing, Elijah and Vincent in the cemetery, the four Harvest girls on the ground after the ritual had been finished.

Elijah starts walking away, but Vincent turns and stops him, “Elijah, let me ask you a question. Do you remember what it’s like to be a human being?” There is an unreadable, yet sort of sad expression on Elijah’s face and Hayley can see his eyes are glassy with unshed tears.

“Not really,” Elijah says softly, his voice sad.

“Cause you just put four little girls’ lives at risk,” Vincent presses angrily.

“I’m trying, Vincent,” Elijah sighs sadly, though she can see his shoulders slump in defeat. “I-” he starts to say, but cuts himself off. There’s pregnant pause before he continues, “now whatever happened tonight, we prevented the city from being destroyed-” he tries to argue, but this time it’s Vincent who cuts him off.

“What happens if what we did didn’t work tonight?” he counters angrily. Elijah scoffs.

“It did,” he retorts, his jaw set. “But now we have an ally against the Hollow,” he adds.

“Yeah, Elijah,” Vincent mutters and sniffles. “You’re an infection on my city,” he adds, and Hayley herself flinches. In the memory, she sees the way Elijah’s jaw is set and knows how it hits him, though he doesn’t show it. Instead, he just stands there, his expression devoid of emotion as Vincent tears into him. “You have absolutely no virtue and you have no value here, or wherever it is that you decide to drag yourself next. I feel sorry for the little girl that she’s got to be raised in a household with a punk like you,” he spits out the word, pure disgust and hatred in his eyes, and Hayley barely stifles a gasp as the memory continues to play in Elijah’s mind. “And, I’m going to be praying for her soul. Because I know you ain’t got one, Elijah,” he says his name in disdain before walking away, and Elijah pulls away from her, seemingly trying to gain control over his thoughts before turning away from her, refusing to meet her gaze, though Hayley can practically feel his pain. She reaches for him, but he flinches and takes another step back, and Hayley herself feels a pang of hurt as she watches him.

“Elijah-” she starts to say, taking a slow step towards him, but he cuts her off, stepping back.

“Don’t,” he says before finally turning to look at her and Hayley’s heart breaks when she sees the empty look in his eyes. His walls were back up, and Hayley could see the self-blame and self-hate clear in his dark, emotionless eyes. [Part of Hayley wanted to march off to find Vincent to exchange a few words, but the other part of her knew that Elijah needed her more. He may push her away, but he did need her]. “Please don’t,” he adds, and with that he walks away, leaving Hayley standing in the middle of the room, her heart breaking for the man she loves.

She hears Hope stir in the bed, and she walks towards the bed, sitting on it gently.

“Mom? Was that Uncle Elijah?” Hope asks sleepily.

“Yeah,” Hayley mutters softly, brushing Hope’s hair away from her face. “It’s okay, just go back to sleep sweetheart,” Hayley whispers softly, gently caressing Hope’s face.

“Is uncle Elijah okay?” Hope asks, opening her eyes to look at Hayley. Hayley smiles softly, touched at how concerned Hope is for her uncle.

“Yeah, sweetheart. I’ll go check in with him in a bit,” she adds, and bends to press a soft kiss to her daughter’s temple. “Just sleep, sweetie,” she mutters. Soon enough, Hope falls asleep, and Hayley stands up slowly after a few minutes. Once she’s certain Hope wouldn’t wake up, Hayley leaves the room quietly and makes her way to Elijah’s study where she finds him sitting on the couch, holding a glass of bourbon in his hand, looking out over the fire, his back rigid.

Hayley knocks slowly on the doorframe, hoping to grab his attention, but Elijah doesn’t look up, so she just walks in and makes her way to couch. Still, he doesn’t give any indication that he knew she was in the room, so Hayley sits down, and reaches to take the glass from his hand, gently prying the glass out of his hands. Finally, he turns to look at her, and Hayley’s heart breaks when she sees the look in his eyes, empty, hiding the pain he was clearly feeling.

“Elijah,” she finally says, her voice barely above a whisper, breaking the heavy silence. Elijah doesn’t say anything, and they simply stare into each other’s eyes.

“You didn’t have to come after me,” he finally says, shaking his head. “I don’t-” he cuts himself off, shaking his head.

“I wanted to,” she tells him breathlessly. “Elijah, please don’t do this. Don’t hide from me, don’t push me away,” she adds, reaching to cup his cheek with her hand. Instinctively, Elijah leans into her touch as she traces his lips with her thumb.

“Hayley, I-” he starts to say, but cuts himself off, and shakes his head.

“Let me in,” she says softly. “Let me in, Elijah. Just please let me in,” she adds, gazing deeply into his eyes. This seems to finally break Elijah because a tear slides down his cheek, and the resolve he seemed to have gained ever since he’d left her room shattered. His walls crumble down with the words Hayley utters, and his eyes, no longer empty, are filled with pain. He drops his head, ashamed, and Hayley moves closer to him, needing to be close. He doesn’t push her away this time. Instead, he reaches for her, pulling her closer, and she wraps her arms around him automatically. Elijah returns the embrace, clinging almost desperately to her, his breath coming in short gasps. Hayley’s not sure if Elijah cries in her shoulder, but when they finally pull away, his cheeks are tearstained, and there is clear pain in his eyes, and Hayley’s heart aches for him.

She pulls away only to cup his cheeks with both her hands, wiping the tears away with her thumb, and gazes deeply into his eyes.

“Elijah,” she says slowly, “you have to know that what Vincent said is not true. He was wrong,” she tells him, looking deeply into his eyes, willing him to believe her. “You are not-” she continues to say, but he cuts her off.

“How can you be certain, Hayley?” he whispers, his lower lip quivering. “I know I always act like the noble brother, but I- I can be just as ruthless, just as much of a monster as Niklaus. I too have blood on my hands. So, perhaps Vincent was simply admitting the hard, painful truth. Because, why would it hurt so much if he was lying?” A stray tear falls from the corner of his eye, and Hayley wipes it away as her heart breaks at Elijah’s words.

“Elijah listen to me,” she tells him as she cups his cheek firmly, and he leans into the touch. “You are not a monster, and you are nothing like Klaus,” she tells him insistently, caressing his jawline with her thumb. “What Vincent said wasn’t the truth. Not, the whole truth at least…” she adds softly, and Elijah looks down.

“Hayley, please don’t- don’t exonerate me. The things I’ve done in the past…” he trails off.

“Are not all that you are. Look, we all have done things we’re ashamed of, we’ve all done terrible things, Elijah. I should know after all I’ve done the past five years… But, that doesn’t mean that we are not worthy… You are more than your past, Elijah. I know you, you are worthy of family, of love. And, I love you. I love you despite everything, I love you because of who you are. I love all of you, Elijah Mikaelson,” she says in a breathless whisper. “What Vincent said was simply not true, please believe me,” she adds. Elijah can’t help but smile at her words, and he reaches to cup her own cheek, and she leans into the touch.

“You are far too good for me, Hayley Marshall,” he mutters before leaning forward and brushing his lips against hers. Hayley smiles softly before deepening the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, her fingers threading through his hair, pulling gently as she slips her tongue into his mouth. Elijah pulls her closer to him, his other hand resting on her waist as he kisses her back softly, and Hayley nips gently at his lower lip. It’s a lingering sort of kiss, gentle, but filled with emotion, and a slight desperate edge to it. Slowly, albeit reluctantly, Elijah breaks the kiss only to lift her chin slightly and meet her gaze. “I love you, Hayley,” he whispers softly, and she smiles at him.

“I love you, too, Elijah,” she whispers before resting her head on his shoulders.

“It’s late,” he mutters softly against her head. “You should go to sleep, sweetheart. I’m sorry I woke you,” he adds, pulling her to him, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“Will you join us?” she asks him as she pulls away slowly.

Elijah hesitates before answering, “perhaps. I just need a moment.”

* * *

She’s almost asleep, her body curled around Hope when he enters the room, wearing a simple t-shirt and pajama shorts. Hayley smiles fondly at him, and he smiles back, though it still holds a certain sadness before he joins her, wrapping his arms around her and curling his body around hers. Hayley rests her head on his chest, one hand on his chest, the other arm wrapped around Hope as Elijah wraps his arms around both of them and presses a soft kiss to her forehead.


End file.
